Stan Douglas: Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971
February 2, 2012
The atrium in the Woodward’s building is home to a massive piece of public art by Stan Douglas that depicts the aftermath of Vancouver’s 1971 Gastown Riot in striking, painstaking detail. The new book Stan Douglas: Abbott & Cordova, 7 August 1971 chronicles the story of the 30 x 50-foot translucent photo mural—which was shot over three nights on a historically accurate set built in the PNE parking lot—the Gastown Riot, and the politics of urban conflict at large.
The book launch takes place Friday, February 10, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at the Charles H. Scott Gallery at Emily Carr (1399 Johnston Street, Granville Island).
Shaping Our Cities to Serve Our Social Needs
January 31, 2012
[What We Want, Sao Paulo, T39, 2006 by Francesco Jodice]
Increased urbanization, busier schedules, and a mounting reliance on technology mean that speed and efficiency are often the forces that determine how we navigate our way through the city. Does this devotion to peak productivity mean that we are losing out on the cooperation and collaboration that have sustained us for centuries? In “Emotional Cityness” Maria Nicanor asks if public spaces and the built environment should be designed to better accommodate human interaction, and whether we need to mold our cities to be more responsive to our social and emotional needs.
Utopia Festival Call for Submissions
January 30, 2012
Vancouver women who are actively involved in digital culture as artists, performers, writers, or musicians are invited to share their ideas for the second annual Utopia Festival, presented by W2 Community Media Arts.
Submissions can range from ideas and works in progress to fully completed projects. There will be a focus on contributors with experience mentoring other women; collaborative, innovative, multidisciplinary projects; projects with ongoing or legacy potential; and younger women breaking boundaries with new tactics.
“By connecting world-class artists with local women music makers or those considering careers in digital culture, Utopia Festival is taking crucial steps in bridging the so-called digital divide along gender lines,” says W2’s Lianne Payne.
Applicants are invited to submit proposals—including a bio, a short project description (500 words), any other digital information, and any technical requirements—by email to submissions@creativetechnology.org or in person at the W2 Media Café (111 West Hastings Street).
The festival, which runs from March 3–10, features performances and peer-led workshops, as well as special events on International Women’s Day (Thursday, March 8).
For more details, visit W2 Community Media Arts.
Citizen Mapmakers Rewrite the Urban Narrative
January 27, 2012
[Photo care of Flickr user voodooangel]
“Individuals inside cities and elsewhere are creating maps for themselves and in fact giving us their own narrative of what a cityscape is about. They are telling us what is important to them, and they’re mapping the kinds of things that previously would not be mapped. It’s becoming part of the creation of a culture of a city.”
—Fraser Taylor, Director of the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre at Carleton University
Read “How Citizen Mapmakers are Changing the Stories of Our Cities” by Christine McLaren at This Big City.
Charles Eames: Design Pioneer
January 26, 2012
“If you examine this furniture, you will find sincerity, honesty, conviction, affection, imagination, and humor. You will not grasp how this furniture came into being or what it really means unless you understand this also about Charles Eames.”
—Eliot Noyes, art and architecture, 1946
Charles and Ray Eames have pioneered modernist furniture, carved out a new way to think about design, and even changed our understanding of the scales of the universe.
Continue reading “‘Sincerity, Honesty, Conviction, Affection, Imagination, and Humour’: A Profile of Charles Eames, 1946″ by Maria Popova at Brain Pickings.
